


to have a home

by showmethebeefy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clint basically being even more of a dad than usual, Fix-It, Gen, Major Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 19:03:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3866245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showmethebeefy/pseuds/showmethebeefy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wanda is waiting outside of the room, full of metal instruments and beeping and lights. She can't stand to wait inside anymore, unable to bear it if she has to feel that loss again.</p>
<p>Post-AoU, fix-it fic. If you've seen the movie you know what I'm fixing. WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR AOU!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	to have a home

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm assuming everyone here saw AoU and was upset as I was at a certain character's death. Here's my attempt to fix it. Also featuring: Clint Barton trying to dad everyone.

The process took a long time. Longer than usual because Dr. Cho was off her game a little and there were delicate internal organs to be fixed. The high metabolism helped, for certain. Still, it was a long process, and Wanda honestly couldn’t stand to sit and wait. This was her brother, shrinking pale in the machinery, growing ever more wan as the minutes ticked by. For a while she had stood and clung to herself, shaking and silent, hoping that just her presence would be enough to rejuvenate him, but after a time it was too much to keep watching his face, pale and still. So she sat and she waited.

She was shrinking, inside herself. She was of course filled with relief to know that her other half wasn’t as gone as she had felt in her core, but it was still a touch and go thing, so she could still lose him. That part of her soul was shaky, crumbling, as the one part of her she had always had hovered on the brink.

Her blank, staring reverie was interrupted, as they generally are. Clint Barton, the cause of all this distress in some roundabout way, sat down beside her with a bit of a groaning sigh. He was still limping from the wounds he had taken, sacrificing his own time in the machine to Pietro. He looked over at her, then at the ground, sucking in a breath, as if unsure what words to say.

“I’m sorry, kid,” he finally said, eyes sad and deep. “It’s my fault your brother’s in there, and I’m not.” The bubble of humor that filled his person previously has been popped, deflating like a gently stuck balloon.

“It is,” Wanda replied. “That is true. But it is also true that my brother made his choice.” She firmly didn’t look at Barton, not because she was angry with him, but because she was afraid of what would happen to her if she did.

“No, really, I can’t make this up to you enough,” Barton continued. “A kid almost died because of me, and I… I couldn’t do anything about it.” He gestured helplessly, mouth gaping, searching for something to say. “I couldn’t save anyone, and I was almost responsible for the death of someone… very dear to you.”

“We are not children, Agent Barton,” Wanda said, looking at her feet. “You seem to think that we are. Pietro is smart. He made his decision.” She allowed herself to glance over at him and saw the shame and sorrow on his face. She reached out, more gently than she was used to, and put her hand on his shoulder. “You may have this wounding on your mind, but you are not responsible for a death. The one who is most responsible for a death here is me.” Barton met her eyes and sighed deeply, patting her hand.

“You kids shouldn’t have to go through any of this.” He half-smiled, perhaps in an attempt to comfort. “Hell, I had a rough childhood, and I shouldn’t have had to go through most of the things I did, but you kids are still young. You have a chance to get yourself out of this… everything.” He gestured around him.  
“I’m afraid it is far too late for that, Agent Barton.” Her face was grave, as it generally was. Barton grimaced.

“Call me Clint. After all this, surely we know each other well enough for that.” His half-hearted smile returned, bringing light to the worn features of his open face.

“Clint.” Wanda nodded, returning his smile. It was the first good smile she had felt in a long time.

“I should say…” Clint paused, thinking. “I talked to my wife about naming my kid after your brother.” He paused again, perhaps hoping for a reaction, but Wanda just blinked in surprise, so he continued. “Not like a first name thing or anything, that’s already dedicated to Nat, but his middle name. In honor of the guy who saved my life so I could take care of my latest rugrat.” He chuckled slightly. “It’s thanks to your brother I get to see him grow.”

“That’s the sappiest bullshit I ever heard.” Wanda and Clint’s heads both snapped up. Pietro stood leaning against the doorframe, smiling but wincing slightly. He was still wearing that dumb tracksuit, only now it had holes in it spattered throughout. He looked worn out and a little droopy, but there he was, alive and well, and in the flesh. Wanda jumped to her feet, followed by Clint, who winced as he stood, clearly still hurting. She moved to her brother, slow and stumbling, and wrapped her arms around his torso, unable to believe he was whole again. He held her with one arm, close against him.

“Idiot,” she said, squeezing him perhaps a bit tighter than was warranted. “Should have worn body armor.”

“When you are fast enough to dodge bullets you do not think about these sorts of things,” Pietro replied. She could tell he was ashamed, though. He had caused everyone such stress.

“Well clearly you can’t dodge bullets as well as you thought,” said Clint from behind Wanda. The siblings broke apart, both looking at him. Clint looked down at his feet, and then back at Pietro. “I owe you one. I get to see my family again because of you.”

“You’re stuck with me forever now,” Pietro replied. “Naming your kid after me. What an idea.”

“Really,” Clint replied, looking terribly, gravely sincere. “I can’t thank you enough.” He moved forward hesitantly, arms hanging out at his sides, as if he wasn’t sure what to do.

“If you’re thinking of hugging me, you should go ahead and do it before this gets too awkward,” Pietro said, the tone of his voice light and playful. Clint took the final step forward and wrapped his arms around the man that saved his life.

“I’m gonna make this awkward as shit, kid,” he said. Then, more sincerely, he continued. “Thank you.” He stepped away from the hug, smiling in a more relaxed way now.

“So,” said Pietro after a moment of warm, familiar silence, “who knows I’m alive?”

“Not everyone,” Clint replied. “Most of the Avengers don’t know. Only the people who brought you in here, and the people who worked on you. Why?” He grinned, face lighter now, any trace of darkness gone. “Are we doing pranks?”

“Yes,” Pietro said, a bit of childish glee on his face. It was easy to see why Clint called him ‘kid’ now, as he looked like he had never grown up. “I’m going to surprise the Avengers.” He cracked his knuckles, and disappeared in a blur. Clint watched him go, chuckling.  
“Kids these days,” he said, clearly effecting an air of dadliness that he didn’t have naturally about him. “Never know what they’re gonna do next.”

“You want to go watch him do it,” Wanda stated.

“Hell yes I do.”

“Then we should go and do that.” Clint fist pumped in an absurdly childish manner, and Wanda couldn’t help but be amused. What kind of people was she getting involved with here? Even if her feelings on the maturity level here were shaky, she did trust Clint. He seemed open, caring, and a genuinely nice guy.

“Hey, Clint,” she said, looking over at him as they walked around, looking for shocked Avengers.

“Yeah, what?”

“Would it be alright if, for a while, Pietro and I came and stayed with your family? Just while we recover, of course. It would be nice to have a stable place to live, and I am sure your home is lovely.” She put the most hopeful smile on her face that she could muster, and tried her best to look charming.

“Of course,” Clint laughed. “I’ll have to talk to Laura first, but I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“Good.”  
“Though you two probably will need to share a room, since we need a room for any surprise Avengers guests.” Clint chuckled to himself. “Maybe we’ll get you bunk beds.” Wanda wrinkled her brow in confusion.

“Bunk beds are for children…” she said in confusion. “And besides, Pietro and I have shared a living space for many years now. We are surely comfortable wherever you want to house us.”

Clint laughed again. “Okay, kid.” He ruffled her hair, which normally she wouldn’t like, but now it filled her with a warm feeling, glowing, in her gut.

“Thank you, Clint.”

They walked on in silence, but now, more than ever, Wanda was sure she was closer to finding a home. Maybe soon that emptiness would be filled. Maybe soon she and Pietro would be out of harm’s way for some temporary amount of time. All she knew for sure right now was that she and Pietro had finally started on the road to something better.


End file.
